Phoenix Suns rout the San Antonio Spurs for third straight win

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich sounded like someone ready to go sleep in his own bed Friday before the Suns played host to his Spurs.

And for good reason. The Spurs were playing their ninth consecutive game on the road as part of their annual “Rodeo Trip.”

“Nine in a row is a bit much by anybody’s standard,” Popovich said. “We always look forward to the Rodeo Trip to come together, bunker mentality and all of that. But at this point it’s a challenge to convince them that there is a game left and they have to go play.”

Instead, the Suns and reserve guard Ish Smith used a second-quarter blitz to convince the Spurs that it was a good time to pack the bags and head for the Alamo.

The Suns tested the Spurs’ tired legs, sprinting away with a 19-0 second-quarter run that led to a dominating 106-85 victory before the first sellout crowd of the season at US Airways Center.

It improved the Suns to 3-0 since the NBA All-Star break and snapped a four-game home losing streak against the Spurs.

The Suns were moving a step slow themselves late in the first quarter, and then Smith came off the bench and hit fast forward.

“That’s me. I’m like Ricky Bobby — I want to go fast,” a smiling Smith said after finishing with a career-high 15 points and matching a career best with seven rebounds. “We want to play that pace. We want to constantly push the ball. That’s what makes us pretty good.”

Smith scored 10 points — hitting every shot he attempted — with five rebounds and three assists in the second quarter alone, getting additional time with Goran Dragic in some early foul trouble and reserve Leandro Barbosa out with a toe injury.

The 19-0 run turned a six-point deficit into a 13-point Phoenix lead before Spurs star Tim Duncan finally ended it with a 3-point play almost seven minutes into the quarter.

“The game was kind of at their pace ... when (Smith) came in and he got the tempo going,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He really pushed the ball, got our guys in that running mode and just did a great job of hitting some layups and some runners. He’s playing great for us.”

Smith started the big run with a driving layup and finished it with a driving reverse. Marcus Morris scored seven of his 13 points during the spree and the Suns made it stand up for a 47-35 halftime lead.

“I think we were all zapped,” Duncan said. “I think the effort was there, and everybody wanted to be here and to play hard. I have to give Phoenix a lot of credit. Their energy absolutely changed the game, turning turnovers into fast breaks ... and we just couldn’t make a shot.”

The Spurs managed only 12 points in the second quarter, a Suns’ opponent season low. It also matched San Antonio’s worst scoring quarter of the season.

“I feel like we did a great job of making them shoot over us,” Smith said. “Obviously they missed some shots, but when we get stops and run, we’re pretty good. The chemistry on this team is fun. We’re just kind of flowing and going.”

Smith got the flowing going in the second, and the Suns starters kept the pressure on in the third quarter.

When Channing Frye buried a 3-point shot with 5:37 to go in the third quarter it staked the Suns to a 22-point lead.

Popovich used a timeout after that shot and started emptying what was left of his bench. The Spurs were without starters Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker because of injuries, and Manu Ginobili was limited by a hamstring injury that made his availability a game-time decision.

Still, the Spurs had won their previous two games on their trip against the Clippers and Blazers despite being short-handed, and the Suns and their fans are never going to feel too sorry for the Spurs.

For Phoenix, the win took a little of the sting out of a couple of earlier losses to the Spurs this season. The Suns led in each with less than five minutes to play and lost.

“They were probably itching to get back home, and they had an off night,” Hornacek said.

“We had a decent night. We’ll take it.”

Report

Key Player: Reserve guard Ish Smith who sparked a big second quarter for the Suns with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in the quarter.

Key Moment: Trailing by six early in that second quarter, the Suns went on a 19-0 run and the Spurs never overcame it.

Key Number: 18,422 fans were in attendance — or at least bought tickets as the Suns reported their first sellout of the season.

View from press row: Confidence is an amazing thing. The Suns, and coach Jeff Hornacek in particular, have show confidence in Smith, and he has rewarded them with some terrific play in recent games. He’s never been better than he was against the Spurs and their own reserve sparkplug, Patty Mills.

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